Not long ago I posted a slow cooker meal I'd done and a very good forum friend decided I needed the "slow cooker cooks best friend". That is a top shelf book with 150 fantastic recipes in it. Read through a bunch of them then last Sunday I decided to pull the trigger on one. Wanted to do something beef so went to that section and commenced to sort through some incredible stuff. Due to circumstances, there was not a one I could do as written. Was either missing ingredients or there was something that just didn't really pop with me. Went back and forth with 4 or 5 of them and decided to do a hybrid of them with a couple twists of my own.
The meat. This is not your typical stew beef that needs to be cooked to death for it to get tender. It is almost tenderloin quality.
Cut the meat into small pieces, toss with 2T of AP flour, 2t kosher salt, and 2t butcher's grind black pepper. Into a skillet with a good splash of EVOO.
Lightly brown the meat and add 1/4 cup of beef broth to deglaze the skillet. Great Gawd what a mess!!
Put the meat into the Crock Pot.
Cut up a nice sized onion and into a skillet with 2T of white wine. Cook till the onions start to soften up.
Add 1T fresh minced garlic, another teaspoon of the black pepper, and 1/2T of dill weed. Sauté till fragrant...and it DOES get fragrant!! (Note: don't get heavy-handed with the dill. It can overpower a dish in a hurry)
Put the onions into the Crock Pot and add another 1/2 cup of beef broth, 1t BTB beef base, 1/4t each of coriander and cumin, 1T of tomato sauce.
Mix it all up, set cooker to low if you have the time or on high if you need it done sooner.
I got some bread going that was brushed with my homemade garlic and herb infused EVOO and sprinkled with some Feta cheese crumbles.
After 4 hours of tantalizing aroma, it looks done. The gravy has thickened up, the meat is tender as cotton candy, and the big chunks of pepper have broken down.
Bread all done.
Serve the beef over Gnocchi, garnish with parsley, and plate with a couple slices of the bread.
You know you're gonna get the close-up shot so here it is.
Ladies and gentlemen, this meal was absolutely superb!! Truly one of my best efforts ever. I would honestly put this in the top 3 of all time but couldn't tell you which 2 were better. Any of you who know me are aware that I'm just a corn-fed country boy from very humble roots. The word "elegant" simply isn't in my wheelhouse but if I had to describe this with one word, that would be it. The hint of the wine was upfront, a very complex plethora of flavors, then a mild hint of the dill on the back end with the gravy being silky and succulent. Just a superbly balanced flavor profile unlike much of anything I've ever cooked. About half way through dinner Tracy made a comment that pretty much left me speechless. She said "I know you don't consider yourself a chef and never will, but this tastes like it was created by a top chef". I didn't know what to say to that so I just said thank you and kept eating. It was that good...and sadly, there were no leftovers. I believe I got all of the ingredients covered and the amounts in case somebody wants to give this a shot...and I actually paid attention this time.
Oh well, one more sloppy meal posted and ion the books. I seem to be doing a lot of those recently
Robert
The meat. This is not your typical stew beef that needs to be cooked to death for it to get tender. It is almost tenderloin quality.
Cut the meat into small pieces, toss with 2T of AP flour, 2t kosher salt, and 2t butcher's grind black pepper. Into a skillet with a good splash of EVOO.
Lightly brown the meat and add 1/4 cup of beef broth to deglaze the skillet. Great Gawd what a mess!!
Put the meat into the Crock Pot.
Cut up a nice sized onion and into a skillet with 2T of white wine. Cook till the onions start to soften up.
Add 1T fresh minced garlic, another teaspoon of the black pepper, and 1/2T of dill weed. Sauté till fragrant...and it DOES get fragrant!! (Note: don't get heavy-handed with the dill. It can overpower a dish in a hurry)
Put the onions into the Crock Pot and add another 1/2 cup of beef broth, 1t BTB beef base, 1/4t each of coriander and cumin, 1T of tomato sauce.
Mix it all up, set cooker to low if you have the time or on high if you need it done sooner.
I got some bread going that was brushed with my homemade garlic and herb infused EVOO and sprinkled with some Feta cheese crumbles.
After 4 hours of tantalizing aroma, it looks done. The gravy has thickened up, the meat is tender as cotton candy, and the big chunks of pepper have broken down.
Bread all done.
Serve the beef over Gnocchi, garnish with parsley, and plate with a couple slices of the bread.
You know you're gonna get the close-up shot so here it is.
Ladies and gentlemen, this meal was absolutely superb!! Truly one of my best efforts ever. I would honestly put this in the top 3 of all time but couldn't tell you which 2 were better. Any of you who know me are aware that I'm just a corn-fed country boy from very humble roots. The word "elegant" simply isn't in my wheelhouse but if I had to describe this with one word, that would be it. The hint of the wine was upfront, a very complex plethora of flavors, then a mild hint of the dill on the back end with the gravy being silky and succulent. Just a superbly balanced flavor profile unlike much of anything I've ever cooked. About half way through dinner Tracy made a comment that pretty much left me speechless. She said "I know you don't consider yourself a chef and never will, but this tastes like it was created by a top chef". I didn't know what to say to that so I just said thank you and kept eating. It was that good...and sadly, there were no leftovers. I believe I got all of the ingredients covered and the amounts in case somebody wants to give this a shot...and I actually paid attention this time.
Oh well, one more sloppy meal posted and ion the books. I seem to be doing a lot of those recently
Robert
